Turtle Down
by AllieBeth131329
Summary: What happens when one of the turtles gets sick? Seriously sick. This story deals with a terrible disease. Did the Shredder have something to do with this sickness? Or was it an accident?


p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"Raph's P.O.V./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"It all started as a normal day, with my bro's and I making breakfast. But when I heard someone coughing up a storm, I turned around just in time to see Leo falling to the ground. Instinctively, I dropped the loaf of bread in my hands and ran towards my brother. I caught him just in time and helped him stand. He was still coughing, but at least with some help from Donnie and Mikey, we were able to lay Fearless on the couch./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"I glanced at Donnie, who looked about ready to slap himself. Deciding to break the silence, I asked him, "Don, what's wrong with Leo? Can you help him?" To which my genius bro replied, "I'm not sure, Raph. It could be whooping cough, could be asthma, could even be a parasite. There are an overwhelming amount of diseases that can cause coughing." Poor Donnie, I could tell he hated not knowing how to help./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Well, what causes coughing like this?" Mikey stated. His eyes looked ready to pop out of his head. We worriedly looked back at our older brother. Leo was coughing so violently now the whole couch was beginning to shake. He looked uncharacteristically frail and weak./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"Suddenly, Leo's body relaxed, and his coughing died down. We helped him sit back up into a sitting position after we noticed him hunching over. He looked at us with tired and pained eyes./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Dude! Are you okay?!" I was startled to hear a voice, then realized it was Mikey./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Yeah, I'm good now." I couldn't believe it! Leo is not getting away with hiding his pain. Not today. Not after that./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""That's a load of crap, Leo. We all know your not okay," I growled. "So stop lying to yourself and let Donnie help you."/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Leo, do you have any pain?" asked Donnie./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Yeah, actually. A lot in my chest and lungs. But I think that's from the coughing. I have this terrible headache, and there is a shooting pain going from my hip down to my feet."/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Alright, Donnie. Get the bed ready in your lab. Mikey, you and I will help fearless here to the bed." I was surprised at the calmness of my own voice./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"Donnie darted off as Mikey and I carefully lifted our leader. We slowly walked him into the lab, and just then, we all smelt burning toast./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Crap!" I said, perhaps a bit too loudly. I could see pain flash in Leo's face and immediately regretted my outburst./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"We had just settled Fearless in when Sensei came rushing in while holding a plate full of our burned breakfast./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""What happened?" Sensei's eyes were full of fear and concern./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"It was Mikey who spoke first. "We aren't sure. Leo just crashed down coughing, and we brought him here."/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""It can't be that bad." Leo's raspy voice floated off the table. Was the idiot actually trying to lie to Sensei?/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Shove it, Fearless! You know as well as we do that is that bad, so cut the bullshit!" I had lost it! I stomped out of the room, and into the dojo. For the next hour, I attacked my favorite punching bag. I kicked and hit it mercilessly until the chain couldn't take my anger any longer. It gave out one last mournful groan and gave up. The bag fell, and in its plummet, met my foot. This collision sent the bag flying across the room. It then came into contact with the wall. Sadly, the wall won. My defeated bag lay helplessly sprawled on the floor, its sandy interior spilling out like blood./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"After I had successfully vented, I decided to check on Leo./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"As I walked into Donnie's lab, I saw my younger brother looking into a magnifying glass. "Where's Mikey?" I asked, not knowing whether or not I should be worried./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""He went to go grab some pizza." Leave it to Mikey to think about food./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""How is he?" I seriously hoped nothing permanent had happened to my only older bro./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Not good. He's somehow contracted the flu, although something tells me that this is just a side effect, not the whole enchilada." I could practically see the pain in Don's voice. I decided to help./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Well, you keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. I'll get a thermometer, blankets, and tissues." It only took me about five minutes to find everything, and I proceeded to attempt to make Leo comfortable. Then he started shaking. I could feel panic try to rise in my throat, but I swallowed it back down. "Leo! Are you okay!?" Stupid question! Of course, he's not okay!/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""M-my n-neck hurts like shell." I placed the thermometer in Leo's mouth, waited a little, then looked at the number. I paled. Fear was now winning the battle for my mind./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""D-D-Donnie, you need to see this! His temperature is one-hundred, seventeen!" The genius all but flew over from his research machine./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Raph, I need a towel dipped in cold water on his forehead. Then I need you to fill up a bucket with cold water, dip some towels in it, and start cooling him off. We need to get that blanket off him before he overheats!" Donnie was strangely calm as he directed me on what to do./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"I soaked a towel in cool water from the sink, then rushed back to the lab to place it on Leo's forehead. Donnie was checking his heart rate with a stethoscope. I situated the towel on Leo, then got the bucket and other towels. I had just sat down to start cooling him off when Donnie jumped up./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Shit! Why had I not checked this! His heart is skipping beats!" I looked worriedly from Donnie to Leo. I noticed that our leader was fading in and out of consciousness. "Leo! Don't pass out on us now!" I was surprised that I was even able to find my voice./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Ra-Ra-Ra..." Leo was trying so hard to speak. "Do-Do-Don..."/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Donnie what is happening to his face!" My older bro's cheeks were going limp like he was deflating./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""No... It can't be..." Donnie mumbled to himself. "Can't be what!" I shouted. I needed to get Don to talk through this./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Facial palsy! That could be the sign of a stroke, or, or..." Don was trailing off again. Shell! "Raph, check Leo's body! See if you can find a red hoop around a blister. It should look like a bull's eye!" Now Donnie was getting worried and I, again, had to battle panic as I searched my brother's skin./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Found it" I shouted. There was no blister, but there was a small black balloon-looking thing./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""That's a tick!" Donnie frantically shouted while getting tweezers. "Raph, go to the kitchen and get the lighter, okay? We need to heat up these tweezers so that it will let go. If we try to pull it off now, the head will just stay inside him and could possibly end up poisoning his bloodstream."/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"I ran to the kitchen, grabbed the lighter, and ran back to my bro's. Leo looked about ready to pass out, and Donnie was definitely yelling at himself in his head. Just then, Mikey burst through the lab door holding a box of Pizza-Hut./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""Yo! I have stuffed crust with everything on..." Mikey was cut off mid-sentence when he saw the chaos going on around him. "What's going on?" he sounded so sheepish, I wanted to hug him, but I couldn't. I had to help Leo./p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""We found a tick on Leo's neck." Wow, was my voice actually that calm?/p  
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;""It's off!" Donnie proclaimed triumphantly. But then his smile died, and his face turned grim looking at the tick. "Why didn't I notice this before? I know what's wrong with Leo! He has Lyme's Disease!"/p 


End file.
